M&S chief's pay defended

Mar 2 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

NEW Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland is being offered a "fair wage", said executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose.

Sir Stuart said former Morrisons boss Mr Bolland, who joins the company later this year as chief executive, will be paid a wage expected of someone running a business the size of Marks & Spencer.

“We are paying him a fair wage. We are paying him £975,000 a year, which is a lot of money, but it is the sort of wage that a man running a business of this size would command,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“The second part of the controversy, if you like, was the fact that he had some money put aside that he had earned at Morrisons that we had effectively to buy out.

“The third part is, he has incentives. If he makes his incentives over a three to five-year period, the shareholders will be happy, the customers will be happy, the staff will be happy.”

His remarks have been made after M&S hit the headlines over the £15 million package offered to Mr Bolland, which includes compensation for share options sacrificed at Morrisons.

Sir Stuart will give up his current role to take on a more conventional chairman’s position at M&S before stepping down in 2011.